


When a Dragon falls Unmasked

by DropsOfJupiterOnARavenclaw



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Gay Draco Malfoy, Good Draco Malfoy, Good Slytherins, Light Angst, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Some Humor, What-If
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-07-10 11:43:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15948656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DropsOfJupiterOnARavenclaw/pseuds/DropsOfJupiterOnARavenclaw
Summary: Set during Harry Potter and the deathly Hollows. 'The seven Potters' is the chapter where this story begins.Draco changed sides but barely anyone knows. He and a few other Slytherins have been slipping information to Harry since the summer after their fourth year.Together they came up with a plan, right under the noses of the oblivious teachers and order members. Draco is convinced that the only way he can be of use is as a spy and he doesnt want to reveal himself to the Order like Harry has been urging him to. Finding himself in a situation where he has to do exactly that leaves him insecure as he has to prove himself all over again.Meanwhile Harry struggles to understand just why he is so overly protective of the blond git.





	1. Chapter 1

Harry's ears were ringing, the sounds of the ongoing battle around him made it difficult to think. His friends and opponents screams mixed into an unidentifiable noise of war. The cold night air pulled on his skin and he couldn't see where they were going.

The plan was going miserably wrong and he couldn't even go back to help the others. Harry wanted nothing more than to fight but had to flee. He couldn't dwell on that thought now though, it would only make him angrier than he already was. If all of that wouldn't have been bad enough already fate had to double it up once more. Somewhere on the opponent's side, hidden under a silver deatheater mask, was Draco.

The git had insisted he could help and volunteered for this godforsaken mission. There was no way this would end well for Draco. If Harrys side got him they might kill him, or knock him off his broom which was the same thing in this case. If his families side noticed him casting a spell in the wrong direction, they might not even be kind enough to simply kill him. Harry shuddered at the thought. He definitely shouldn't think about that possibility, Harry decided as he dodged another curse.

All of his friends dove off in different direction and were long out of sight. There were four deatheaters behind them. Hagrid was struggling to keep the motorcycle in the air. More and more blinding lights in different colours shot in their direction. One of the four might be Draco, Harry mused. That didn't change that he had to fire counter curses.

Suddenly he noticed something, and prayed like hell no one else had noticed. One of the masked attackers kept casting curses slightly to the side. Sometimes even so much to the side that he hit one of his own. If that hadn't been enough proof already, a strand of platinum blond hair slipped out from behind the mask. Draco.

Harry's heart skipped a beat. If of happiness or fear he didn't know. An impossibly strong shield in piercing blue light appeared between the motorcycle and the deatheaters. The oddest thing, however, was that it formed backwards. Harry couldn't believe his eyes. The poweful light blue wall blocked the spells from direction it had been casted, making every curse aimed at him backfire. Harry wondered whether Draco had a sudden death wish when he realized where the spell had come from. He watched in terror as a red wave of light washed over his opponents. There was absolute silence for a moment. He didn't recognize the curses which back lashed at the ones who casted them. Two of the masked men fell into the deep oblivion of the night sky, the third got a hold of Dracos broom.

"What's going on back there?" Hagrid called, clearly worried. "Nothing," Harry lied, "three of them are gone." Trying his best not to sound too panicked, he carefully aimed several stupors at the man holding onto Dracos broom. Hagrid grunted his acknowledgment and continued his fight with the complaining enchanted motorbike.

The next thing he saw was how Draco fell. The world around him turned black as the unforgiving darkness swallowed Draco whole. 'Not him', his inner voice screamed with all it's might. Harry didn't have time to think, he acciod the nearest falling broom and jumped.

He dove downward, hearing but not registering Hagrids terrified yelling. To his relief it took barely a second to regain focus on the platinum hair which refelcted the moonlight like a warnsignal. Wether he himself was flying or falling he couldn't tell and it didnt matter to him either. He was catching up. Soon Draco was just out of reach and the ground started to become visible below them. Harry stretched forward, willing the broom to fly faster than it was meant to. He was almost close enough to pull him over but Draco, who had fallen unconscious, couldn't help him. With pure determination he willed the broom even faster. Finally he got a hold of black robes and with all his might he pulled Draco onto his broom with both his arms.

Steering the broom with only his legs was almost impossible, letting go of Draco was even less possible. Holding on as tightly as he could, they fell together.

The first trees appeared within reach and the cold night air burned in his lungs. Regaining control over the broom, Harry pulled them upwards in one last desperate attempt to soften their nearing collusion with the ground. There was no way he could have actually cushioned their abrupt landing. Dumbledore would have been able to do so, but he wasnt Dumbledore and so they crashed into the ground.

He only could do so much but it was enough to prevent the worst. They hit the ground, at least with only half the speed they had been falling at before and rolled a few steps.

Harry felt the wet grass below him and his heart beat in his chest. What remained of the broom lay scattered out around them. For a second he wanted to just not get up ever again. Then he remembered that they could also have landed on asphalt and look much worse than they did. Most importantly, he held Draco in his arms, safe and alive. He quickly checked on the latter, who appeared to be mostly fine but was still unconscious. The adrenalin rushing through his veins made him dizzy like a calming spell, sadly not one of the pleasant kind.

Several miles away from them he saw Hagrid crash-land the motorcycle. He held his breath, his eyes went wide. The next second the big shadow which had to be Hagrid got up, trembling and unstable but alive.

This was one of those nights were the shocks just kept coming, Harry thought as he got up. Draco still lay on the grass, a harsh cut on his cheek and several bruises which were only beginning to form all over his left side. His eyes remained closed. Harry swallowed heavily, there lay quite the road ahead of them. Explaining to the order why he brought Draco Malfoy with him wouldn't be fun. He carefully picked Draco of the ground, opting to carry him to the save house.

Walking was difficult after all of the fighting and carrying Draco made it even worse. He set going anyways, slow but steady. The only good outcome of the night was, he thought to himself, that now he had a plausible reason for Malfoy not to go back to his family. This whole double spy thing was finally over, they'd pretend like Draco had died tonight and keep him hidden.

The git had insisted he'd be more helpful if no one knew he changed sides and tried to gather information for them. Blaise, Pansy and Ginny had consistently rolled their eyes everytime they discussed it. He should feel bad about having lost a spy for his own side, in reality, he was simply glad that Draco was safe.

They had come a long way. From Malfoy and Potter, sworn enemies, to Draco and Harry. If they were partners in crime, friends, almost friends or something else entirely he didn't know. They'd work it out when all of this was over, in case they were both still alive by then, he mused bitterly.

His muscles were aching by the time he reached Hagrid, who began roaring several steps before Harry was actually next to him.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?!" Never before had he seen Hagrid like this, absolutely furious, shaking and red in the face. Harry bit his lip and yet he wasn't as sorry as he should be. "I had to," he mumbled.

"You had to? You had to what? Risk your own life for a death eater? This whole mission was about getting you to a save place! And you, you almost kill yourself, 'Arry? I've always trusted you, so please for merlinsbeard tell me there is something I don't know!" he seemed to grow bigger with every silibal, staring down at Harry with utter disbelief in his eyes. Swallowing heavily he tried to find the right words, "You actually don't know all of it, no one does. He's on our side okay?" he nodded in Dracos direction, "thats all I can tell you for now, I'm sorry."

Hagrid tumbled a few steps to the side, almost knocking Harry over before he shook his head, "the ferret? On our side? You've gone mental 'Arry!" There was not much strength or willpower left in him, he began walking again hoping that Hagrid would follow him and not ask too many questions. To his relief Hagrid was speechless and simply trotted along, at least for a few meters.

"You're bleeding! I don't care why or how, that pureblooded arse just isn't worth it," he yelled putting empathy on the last words. If he hadn't been so incredibly tired Harry might have rolled his eyes.

Biting his tongue, the way he always did when someone bad mouthed Draco in front of him, he suddenly remembered that he no longer had to do so. "Don't. Insult. him. You don't know the whole story," he didn't snap, none of the things that had happened were Hagrids fault and he knew they weren't. Nonetheless, it felt freeing to actually defend him for once.

Harsh pain rushed through him like poison, now that Hagrid had mentioned it. His ribs felt numb and his chest burned terribly, it just fueled his will to keep going. Clenching his jaw he glanced down at Draco who was breathing worryingly heavy. Harry readjusted his grip on him. One of the curses that had hit Draco must have late effects which were only now beginning to show.

Harsh curses slipped past his lips without him even noticing. Not that it mattered anyway. Forcing himself to go faster he mumbled soft reassurances to his unconscious kinda-friend.

Along the way he wondered when the always sarcastic, bratty, Slytherin had stolen his affections.


	2. Chapter 2

The safe house couldn't be far now.  Distantly he heard Hagrid rambling on without registering the meaning of any of the words. The lump in his throat made it difficult to speak, "he needs medical attention," Harry forced out, "I know you don't like him and you have every right to. Just please give him another chance, he changed sides, he's with us."

Hagrid fell silent for a moment, walking faster nonetheless. Harry thanked god that Hagrid had a bigger heart than stubborn character and hurried along.

They rushed through the nightly wood without exchanging another word. Once or twice Hagrid pulled him around a corner, they couldn't be too far off track. Barely another minute had past when Hagrid pointed at a light coming from behind the nearest row of trees, "that's the one," he mumbled, "I'll get 'elp".

Harry didn't remember much after that. He knew that Hagrid ran ahead to inform Andromeda and Ted that they weren't alone. He knew that with the help of Ted Tonks he managed the last part of the way and passed the magical barrier. He knew that once inside the house he carefully placed Draco on a sofa in a strange living room. That's when everything went black around him. He didn't feel how he hit the hardwood floor, he didn't hear the others surprised and scared screams. The only thing he was aware of was welcoming, peaceful nothingness.

Blurry lights and an unforgiving headache were the first things that came to Harrys awareness. Memories, flashbacks and his fear for Draco were next. Sitting up straight right away had been a stupid idea, he noticed a split second too late. Everything hurt and his glasses had gone missing. Looking around he saw dozens of potted plants and warm furniture in the bright and cozy living room. Normally he might appreciate it but there were other things which occupied his mind. Scrambling hurriedly of the sofa he called for Draco, him not being in the same room couldn't mean anything good.

Andromeda pushed the door open, with her glistening eyes and flowing dark hair she for a brief second looked just like her sister. Harry didn't give a damn, he swallowed his surprise and demanded to know where Draco was.

"Safe," she assured him, "right next door, Ted is still trying to heal him. Whatever curse hit him was rare and the worst kind of dark magic. However, why you brought him here still puzzles me," she questioned with raised eyebrows. Assessing the cuts on Harry's face she continued," You must know that my nephew, or rather most of my so-called family, don't exactly agree with us about the most crucial things."

Half smiling despite the pain Harry looked up at her, "he's got your sarcasm, that much is clear." Andromeda grinned back at him, pleasantly surprised that he just went with her humour and the strange situation. Sighing softly she continued, "the portkey should be back in a few minutes. As it stands now I suggest you take it and leave with Hagrid. Ted and I will look after Draco, his wounds don't look too good. I suppose we don't know the whole story? Regarding him?" she tried to sound casual but there was obvious worry in her voice.

Harry shook his head violently, "no, I won't leave without him. If he wakes up and I'm not there...I don't think that would be a good idea. Thank you and your husband so much for your help, I don't want to come across unthankful," he trailed of. "Don't worry about it," her kind smile instantly made him feel better, "I am guessing that means I'm right about Draco?" she prodded on. Harry couldn't blame her, "Yes you are, its a long story," he saw the glowing of the reappearing portkey in the corner of his eye and finally pushed past her. "If I ever get the chance I will tell it to you. For now I think you should know that you can be incredibly proud of your nephew," he ended.

Upon entering the next room Harry was met with Ted Tonks startled expression. The soft blue light of a healing charm surrounded Dracos' lifeless figure. Harry swallowed heavily as worry pulsed through his veins. Accompanied by the endless fear of losing the one person who truly understood him, he stepped closer. They had no time to waste. Hearing himself thank Mr. Tonks like in trance he picked Draco up once more.

Hagrid called for him from the living room. The port key would take of any second, with or without them. Yet he stilled for only a moment when he heard a soft familiar voice. Draco was awake. He mumbled with his eyes still closed and Harry got another adrenalin kick. He pushed one of Draco's blonde strands of hair aside, "Let me down Potter, I swear if you don't bring some space between us right now," he snarled.

Harry laughed, rief bubbeling up in him, "are you sure you can stand? We have to take a port key to the burrow, hold on to me," sincere concern was sweeping through his voice. Draco hated being ordered around like nothing else, but for once he complied, nodding carefully. He threw one arm over Harry's shoulder, who instantly grabbed him by the waist. Hagrid came over to them, eying Draco warily. Harry took one last deep breath and accepted the small hand mirror their port key was disguised as.

The second Hagrid put his huge hand on the mirror they were teleported away. The feeling of being pulled through space by the navel wasn't unknown to him and yet he'd never get used to it. It ended as abruptly as it begun and they landed in front of the burrow. Harry held himself and Draco upwards, Hagrid, however, fell over right away. The now useless old hand mirror fell in the grass, it didn't shatter.

Being this close to Draco set a strange tingling sensation over his skin he hadn't expected. He turned his head slightly and found that their faces were a lot closer than he had expected. His breath hitched and his heart beat faster when he looked into beautiful storm grey eyes. That git had the audacity to smirk at him as if he knew exactly what he was doing to Harry. The blood on his face put emphasis on his cheekbones, further strengthened through the harsh contrast of his pale skin.

It wasn't fair Harry's inner voice complained, absolutely no one should look good with blood on their face. Draco leaned closer to him, "seeing something you like?" he murmured. Harry felt the redness rise in his face, of course this wasn't the first time Draco had flirted with him, but it might be the most inappropriate time. It annoyed him endlessly that he still got all flustered and never found a right reply in time.

If words weren't his thing, maybe actions were he considered. Tightening his grip on Draco's waist possessively he made sure to hold eye contact. He was met with a deepening smile for just a split second before it faltered and vanished as Draco glanced over his shoulder.

Dear god, he had completely forgotten where they were and why. The Burrow, the order, now wasn't the time for any of this. They hadn't even found a way to break the curse which was still lingering over Draco.

He felt like a complete idiot, glancing over once more he saw that Draco must be in terrible pain. Darkening bruises and heavily bleeding cuts covered his left side and appeared to be getting worse by the minute. Pulling them closer to the entrance of the burrow he saw four people in the shadows of the night, waiting for them. Hagrid was nowhere to be seen.

He lit his wand and recognized Ron's parents, Lupin and Kingsley Shackelbolt. They must have only know realized who Harry was with. He saw their expressions of disbelief and shock and recognized that this rather long night was far from over. Unconsciously he took on a protective stance and pushed Draco half a step behind him, who merely scoffed at the afford.

Lupin was the first to dare and break the silence, he stormed forward pointing his wand at Harry's face," what creature sat in the corner of my first office the first time you came to visit?" he yelled much more authorial than usually.

He took half a step backward, what?" he asked lamely, trying to comprehend what the hell was going on. "What Creature?" Lupin repeated intently staring him down. Searching through his memories was the last thing he wanted to do right now, desperately trying to remember some random day in third year but Remus wouldn't back down. "A Grindelo," he finally shouted back.

Lupin instantly dropped his wand, "We have been betrayed, I had to make sure you're the real you." To this point he had completely ignored that they weren't alone, now he finally took notice, "Harry? You didn't take him hostage, did you? Hagrid said something about a Malfoy being here, we assumed he had taken a hit to the head though," Lupin frowned, "You better have a really good explanation for this," he gestured towards them and suddenly looked endlessly tired.

The other adults were staring at them, he could feel it in his neck. Lupin shook his head, "knowing you're James' son you probably don't," despite sounding exasperated he offered Harry a tiny reassuring smile. He smiled back before he looked around again, Molly and Arthur had left the scene. That instantly rang his alarm bells, "Are we the last to arrive?" He asked aloud unsure if he wanted to know the answer.

Remus shook his head, "Madeye and Mundungus aren't back yet, they're the last, should have arrived before Ron and Tonks." There was something Remus wasn't telling him, he could feel it, "What happened? How are the others?" he insisted.

"It's George. He lost an ear," Lupin grimaced. "He lost a what?" Harry paled. "An ear," Remus confirmed to his horror. "Everyone else got away with smaller injuries. Ron and Hermione are fine, and Tonks swears Ron saved her life. I just think it would be better not to," he paused, "intrude the reunion inside, everyone is still on edge and we have yet to figure out a way to heal George."

What Remus was too polite to say hung thickly in the air between them. The others would feel betrayed if he brought a death eater with him. They wouldn't trust him any longer.


	3. Chapter 3

"Remus, can you believe me when I tell you he means no harm?" he asked intently.

Remus gaze wandered from Harry to Draco and back. He nodded slowly, "I never considered the young Mr. Malfoy a true danger. I was, however, under the impression that the two if you couldn't stand each other? Completely beside the fact that he shares his families values, of course," Remus stated, his voice ever so slightly tinted by sarcasm.

Harry grinned proudly, despite the circumstances, "Yeah, we played that part well, didn't we?" he nudged Draco softly as he spoke, still holding the blonde upright. Remus shocked expression was like a tiny stab to Harry's ego. His former teacher clearly hadn't thought him capable of plotting something to an extent that it would require a double spy. Or even just to put old grudges aside.

"How long?" Remus asked flatly. "Since the summer after our fourth year. Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny know. As well as a small group of other Slytherin students," he reported.

Sighing in mild confusion and, irritably, amusement, Remus concluded, "I sure would like to hear that story some day. And yes, I believe you."

Draco was holding himself surprisingly well. Unlike his usual self, he was doing his best not to draw attention his way. He obviously tried to give Harry the space he needed to get one reasonable adult on their side. He would be a much-needed ally once they entered the burrow. Now was as good a time as any to do so, Harry decided.

He exchanged one last meaningful glance with Remus, who followed them closely, wand in hand and clearly expecting to have to ward off curses aimed at Malfoy.

Harry pushed the door open, no one took notice of him. For a second he just stood there, taking in the scene playing out in front of him.

The members of the order were scattered around the kitchen and the living room, Georges pale figure lay sprawled out on the couch and was bleeding heavily from a deep, dark hole in the side of his head. Harry's stomach turned.

The other Weasleys stood closely around the couch, keeping watch over their wounded son or brother. The atmosphere was unruly and upset, no one knew what to do with themselves and urgent whispered discussions filled the room, mixing together to one single, headache-causing noise.

Behind him he heard Remus call, "I checked, he's really him. Don't do anything you might regret later." With that sentence, the room fell silent.

Instantly Harry wished he could get the annoying noise back, as everyone stared at him. In an instant Ron, Hermione and Ginny jumped to their feet, with a shared expression of relieve on their faces.

Everyone else appeared too gobsmacked to react at all. Fred looked up shortly and took notice of them but only had a small nod to spare for them, too occupied with his twins well-being.

Hermione threw herself at them, hugging them with a passion that made Harry fear for his ribs. For the first time in that night, he felt safe and at home, he pressed her closer for just a moment. Then she let go, only for her presence to be replaced by Ginnys in an instant.

"Harry! Draco! We were so terribly worried about you!" Hermione exclaimed, "What happened?" She hugged Draco again. Ever since the two had started studying together they got along surprisingly well.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Draco fondly smile at Ginny, who smirked back. During the last year, they had come to realize, to Ron's horror, that they shared the same sense of humour. As well as interest in Quidditch and their fighting style.

Fred and George merely joked that they always knew there was something Slytherin about Ginny.

Harry liked to tease Draco about it. Ron liked to pretend like it wasn't true, it had taken him the longest to accept Malfoy as part of their group. Possibly so because he was the one who had the least to do with him in the beginning.

Ron awkwardly, briefly, wrapped his arms around Harry and exchanged a short, bro-like handshake with Draco.

"Don't get me wrong mate, but what made you decide to finally give in to these two now?" he questioned Draco, gesturing towards Harry and Hermione.

The two had spent the last weeks, almost month, trying to convince Draco that it was time to blow his cover. For his own well-being, they had wanted to at least inform the order, to avoid the exact situation they were in now.

If Harry was honest he had simply hoped that if they got adults involved someone would force Draco to stay out of danger. But the Slytherin had stuck to his idea, unwavering like a stone.

Now Draco huffed, "I didn't decide anything," he glared at Harry.

"Would you rather I watched you fall to your death?" Harry answered, suddenly feeling tired and frustrated. Why couldn't Draco just thank him and let it be? "I've been trying to get you to safety for weeks, heck no, months. This wouldn't have needed to happen."

He didn't even realize how worked up and emotional he sounded, the only clue to that was how quietly and soft Draco answered, "I could have done more," he complained and turned away from Harry.

His face was red, if from embarrassment about being saved or sadness, because of his family who he had wanted to safe so badly, Harry didn't know. His jaw clench and instantly he felt miserable about having lost his temper, Draco had enough worries without him, he reminded himself.

"Look, it is how it is. We can't change that now, we can only adapt to our situation and continue our work. And thanks to you and the network we've built, we have a much better chance than anyone expects. This isn't the end just because you can't get us information anymore, it's only just the beginning. Do you know why?"

He carefully stepped closer again and put an arm around Draco, "Now you can actively help us," his lips almost unnoticeably curled upwards. "Draco, I've seen you at your best, at your worst, when you're angry...," he paused for a second as he struggled to find the right words, "You're not to be underestimated and those godforsaken death-eaters don't know what's coming their way. We have a plan, and even though the execution might require some luck, I am confident that we can make it happen. Together."

Draco locked eyes with him, "War feeds itself, Harry, always keep that in mind. Your confidence worries me."

Harry rolled his eyes, "And your pessimism forces me to be realistic, I'd say we're quit."

Ginny giggled and Hermione murmured something about how they truly did complete each other. Noticing that there was some life back in Draco's eyes, Harry was content with himself.

Ron awkwardly cleared his throat, "Sorry to ruin the moment, I know you've been working towards getting him away from the death eaters and all for months now," Ron grimaced, "but if you two don't step away from each other right now and start explaining, I fear my Mums gonna hex blondie into the next year. That would be a lot of hard work for nothing."

Startled back into reality they instantly brought some space between them. Harry was about to glare at Ron when he saw that absolutely everyone had their wands out and pointed at Draco.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't forget to comment! :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! I will try to update once a week, please comment what you thought of this chapter!


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